Shogging-attachment apparatus for knitting two-by-two ribbed-top hose on automatic-transfer circular knitting machines



May 7, 1957 T. B. WALKER 2,791,108

SHOGGING-ATTACHMENT APPARATUS FOR KNITTING TWO-BY-TWO RIBBED-TOP HOSE 0N AUTOMATIC-TRANSFER CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 14, 1953 I N VEN TOR.

Thomas Bwalker,

BYWWQM y 1957 T. B. WALKER 4 2,791,108

SHOGGING-ATTACHMENT APPARATUS FOR KNITTING TWO-BY-TWO RIBBED-TOP HOSE oN AUTOMATIC-TRANSFER CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 14, 1953 WW @A/M I A+for-ney vSHOGGING-ATTACHMENT APPARATUS FOR KNITTING TWO-BY-TWO RIBBED-TOP HOSE ON AUTOMATIC -TRANSFER CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Thomas B. Walker, Nashville, Tenn. Application May 14, 1953, Serial No. 355,021 8 Claims. 01. 66 -24) This invention relates to shogging-attachment appara tus for knitting two-by-two ribbed-top hose on automatic transfer circular knitting machines. More specifically it relates to an arrangement, including a dial-shogging attachment, whereby two-by-two ribbed-top hosiery can be knit on circular knitting machines without requiring a manual transfer.

The knitting of two-by-two ribbed tops requires knitting on pairs of cylinder needles alternating with pairs of dial needles. However, new stitches must be formed on the dial needles before each ribbed top can be knit (the stitches previously thereon having been transferred to cylinder needles at the end of the top-knitting part of the. preceding cycle) and new stitch loops cannot be formed on the dial needles automatically unless there is a'cylinder needle between each dial needle to pull the yarn around said dial needle. In the needle arrangement needed for knitting two-by-two rib tops, the two side-bysidedial' needles would cause the yarn to float over said needles without making-up stitches thereon. The herein disclosed invention contemplates providing automatic means for shogging, shifting or racking the dial relative to the cylinder, whereby the dial and cylinder needles may be placedin a one-by-one ribbing relationship for the purpose of make-up, and then be shoggedto their alternating-pairs relationship for knitting the two-by-two ribbed top of the hose.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an attachment and arrangement whereby an automatictop-transfer knitting machine can knit a two-by-two ribbed top on plain-knit hosiery.

It is another object to provide a simple, eifective, yet inexpensive attachment for insertion in the driving mechanism of a circular-type knitting machine for shogging the dial thereof to and from a first one-by-one position relative tothe cylinder needles, for the purpose of makeup acters designate the same parts thruout the several views:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the attachment to be substituted for the conventional drive shaft for rotating the dial of a circular-type knitting machine.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the apparatus of Fig. 1 from the right side thereof.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the showing of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the relationship of the cylinder and dial needles during the knittingof the body of the hose. 2

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the relationship ofthe needles during knitting of the pull-top, or just before make-up. v

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the needles in relative positions during make-up.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the needles in their relative positions for knitting the two-by-two ribbedrtop.

.Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the relationship of the needles while the stitches on the dial needles are being transferred to the pairs of cylinder needles that were idle during the knitting of the ribbed top.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary elevational view of a fabric showing in sequence the various stitch patterns produced by a machine embodying the present invention.

With reference now to Figs. 1-3 of the drawings, the

. numeral 1 designates the cylinder of a conventional circular knitting machine, which also has the usual 1ib-knitting dial 3. Cylinder 1 and dial 3 are synchronously rotated in the direction, of the arrows 5, being driven from connected gears 7 and 8 in generally conventional" Gear 7 engages cylinder-rotating gear 9, while manner.

gear 8 drives the dial 3 thru the attachment generally designated 11 (which, embodying a major portion of the novelty, will be described below in detail), bevel gear 13, shaft 15, bevel gears 17 and 18 and shaft 19. Plates.

. 20 and 21 are parts of the frame structure of the knitting machine.

. bearing sleeve 28. Bearing sleeve 28 extends downwardly Parts 22 and 23 and 24 are, respectively, conventional sinker cap, sinker head and cam plate.

The attachment 11 takes the place of the usual shaft and pair of gears by which gear 13 would conventionally The attachment 11 comprises a gear 25 fastened by set screw 26 to a vertical shaft 27, which is journaled in a thru an opening in bed plate 20 and frame plate 21, and

I the center of a coupling sleeve 31. Coupling sleeve 31- is anchored to plate 20 by bracket 29 cast integrallytherewith, or welded or otherwise attached thereto.

Screws 30 fasten bracket 29 to plate 20.

Shaft 27 extends upwardly into, and terminates near has a vertically elongated slot 32 to receive a screw pin 33, which permits sleeve 31 to be lifted slightly while being rotatably driven by shaft 27.

The upper half of coupling sleeve 31 is provided with a curved or camming slot 34 in which a screw pin 35 rides. Pin 35 screws into shaft 36; shaft 36 is axially alined with shaft 27 by which it is driven thru sleeve 31 and screw pins 33 and 35. It is the curvature, or camming effect, of slot 34 that produces the slight racking or shogging of the dial 3 relative to the cylinder 1, required for the novel results of this invention.

The upper end of shaft 36 is journalled in a bearing bore in the shaft-support 37, being held against vertical 1 movement by the hub portion of beveled gear 39 and by a collar fastened thereto, as by set screws 40.

It is thus apparent that the lifting of coupling sleeve 31 will rack or shog the dial forwardly relative to-the cylinder thru a small angle. and lowering the sleeve 31 will now be described.

Sleeve 31 has welded or otherwise rigidly attached near its center a flange or ring 41, adapted to ride on the top face of a horizontal lifting fork (or apertured plate) 43. Fork 43 is integrally joined to a vertical lift bar 44.

' Lift bar 44 is movably guided by any suitable means (not their 7 Slide bar 45 has welded thereto an upwardly extending boss 46, 'carrying a horizontally extending adjustable screw 47. 'Screw'47 is adapted to engage arm 48 by which slide bar 45 is moved back and forth to raise and lower I lift bar 44. A spring 49 or the like may be used to retract slide bar 45."

Patented May 7, 1957 The mechanism for lifting Arm 48 is fixedly mounted on a shaft 50 carried by conventionalbearings (not shown). Shaft 50 also carries a pair of arms 51 and 52 anchored thereto adjacent its other end. Arm 51:.connectswith a tension spring 53 that tendsto pull the arms 48, 51 and 52 downwardly.

Arm. 52 is positively raised (to. shog the. dial forwardly) by a vertical push bar.5.5 mounted ,in a slottedguide member 57, in conventional manner. An extra circular cam 57' of conventional construction is added to the main cam drum 58 to raise (or lower) the beveled end 59 of the push bar 55.

The mode of operation will now be described with reference to Figs. 4-9 of the drawings.

In Figs. 4-8 the dial 3 is shown in phantom and its direction of rotation is indicated by the arrows 5. For clarity only four cylinder needles and a pair of dial needles are. shown, it being understood that these six needles are repeatedly duplicated around the cylinder anddial at equally spaced intervals to complete the circular knitting arrangement in wellknown manner. It shouldbe notedthat the .dial needles 60 and 61 are spaced from each other on. centers an angular distance approximately equal to the angular spacing between adjacent cylinder needles, while the on-center spacing between pairs of dial needles is equal to approximately threecylinder-needle spaces. Thispermits pairs of dial needles 60 and 61 to alternate with pairs of cylinder needles 70 and 7-1(F,ig. 7) to knit the two-by-two ribbed top.

The dial needles 60 and 61 are hereindisclosed as being of the novel double-width construction disclosed and claimed in too-pending application of James A. Jarvis, S. N. 146,505, filed Feb. 27, 1950, Patent No. 2,677,257, May 4, 1954. The Jarvis needle because. of its. sturdy construction and its reliability in effecting an automatic transfer of a stitch held thereon to its mating cylinder needle, is admirably adapted for use with the present invention. Briefly, the Jarvis needle approximately alines with or lies substantially directly over its mating cylinder needle, which latter needle at transfer passes upwardly thru the conical recess 62 in the wide stitch-opening part of the dial needle to'transfer the stitch to the cylinder needle by a withdrawal of the dial needle thru the stitch and back into thedia-l, as is fully described in'the Jarvis application- Fig. 4 shows a set of four cylinder and two dial.

needles, with the dial needles pulled back into the dial and. with the cylinder needles in their operative position fonknittin' the ankle, heel, foot and toe represented by; In this general position;

lcttcnB (body) in Fig. 9. the needles also knit the tuck stitches T in well-known manner. It is preferable'that the dial be in its shoggedforward position'during most of the body-knitting operation' in order to prevent its whipping back and forth during'hcel or toe knitting. (Also itis obvious'th'at the fork 43 could be made double so as to positively force the shogging iu bothdirections if desired. In the ,disclosed species, the naturaldrag of the,i""ialcauses it to shog back when thepositive forwardehoj ngforces are released as cam-follower 59 drops off the end 57" .of circular cam 57'.)

Afterthe body B, includingtuok stitches T, is knit-ted, needles BO and 81 are raised in-well known mannerto the dotted-line positions (Fig. 4) to carry the lower (tip). ends .oftheir latches 83' above the stitch loops surrounding their shanks. Needles SQ-and 81 are thenpulled down to their inoperative positions, casting off their stitches during their downward-movement. This leaves only needles 70 and 71 holding and knitting stitches, to-

fabricate the conventional pull-top P, which is unraveled to separate-the eon-tinuous circular-knit fabric, intoseparate pieces of hosiery; The letter "Mdesignates the higake-uf'stitehes, and X designates the automatic.

transfer point (Fig. 9).

'I'n theoperations represented 'by'Fig's. 4,. .5 and 6 the dial, as was mentioned above, is in its forwardly shogged (tightly and positively held) position relative to the cylinder. In this position the dial needles 60 and 61 are held so that when they are cammed out to their operative positions of Fig. 6 they straddle the rear needle of the pair of cylinder needles that always have stitches thereon. This straddling position permits make-up sincethe cylinder. needles alternating with thedial needles pull loops around: the dial needles whereby stitches can be formed thereon. If the needies were in-a lIWQ-bY-IWO ribbing position, make-up could not occur since the yarn would float over the two'. dial needles without looping around either of them.

In the Fig: 6 positions of the needles, one, two or more courses of the 'rake-upv stitches. are knitted. Then the dial needles are momentarily retracted enough so that their outer ends will clear the inner edges of the cylinder needles. At this point cam-follower 59 drops off the rear end of circular cam 57' on camdrum 58 The natural drag on the dial causes it to drop or shog.

too critical, it being merely necessary that the dial needles move from a straddling position relative to the cylinder needle 70 and 71, or in other words a minimum distance equal to a cylinder-needle-clearance Widtl'L,

After the ribbed top is knitted for the desired number of courses (Fig. 7 positions of needles), the dial needles are-cammed out to their transfer positions of Fig. 8 and the idle cylinder needles and 81 are cammed up thru the stitch-opening conical recesses 62 to transfer the stitches on the dial needles to themselves. The dial needles are then quickly pulled back into the dial to shed or transfer their stitches onto the cylinder needles, and the cycle is back to'the plain-knitting condition of Fig, 4 to fabricate the body of the hose.

After transfer (at point. X, Fig. 9) the plain-knitting of the'ankle, heel, foot and toe resumes to start a repeating MB of the B portion of the knitting cycle, preferably soon after which the forward shog occurs. Thus :a fully antomatic cycle for knitting a two-by'two ribbed new and desire to secure by Letter Patent of the United States'isr 'l. A circular hosiery-knitting machine comprising: synchronouslydriven cylinder and dial; said cylinder having first spaced pairs of contiguous needles, adapted to have stitches thereon. constantly ,thruout operation of the machine, alternating with second spaced pair of needles adapted taco-operate with. said first pairs of needles to plain-knit the body of a hose and to be idle during .knitting of. the top of said hose; said' dial having spaced pairs of'dial needles adapted; to extendbetween andco-operate withsaid first pairs of cylinder. needles to.l-:r 1it.av twosbytwo ribbed top; said dial needles beingadaptedattransfer to hold the stitches carried thereon open and alined with said second pairs of cylinders needles .whereby the latter may pass upwardly thru said stitches for automatic transfer thereof .to said'second. pairs of cylinder needles at the completion of saidgribbedftopg and automatic means forshogging said dial and cylinder relative to, .each other loops. of yarn around. the dial. necdlesalternateddhercr between and provide an automatic-makc-up=of stitches thereon, and a second position in which said pairs of dial needles will lie between said first pairs of cylinder needles for cooperation therewith in knitting said twoby-two ribbed top.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 and in which said dial needles have stitch-opening wide shank portions having recesses therein to receive cylinder needles passing upwardly thru stitches opened therearound.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 and in which said positions are separated by an angle at least wide enough to insure clearance of each straddled cylinder needle by the dial needle that passes on both sides thereof selectively.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 and in which said positions are separated by an angular amount of approximately one and one-half center-to-center cylinder-needle spaces.

5. In a continuous operation circular hosiery-knitting machine, including a cylinder, a dial, co-ordinated cylinder-driving mean and dial-driving means synchronously rotating the same, spaced pairs of cylinder needles and spaced pairs of dial needles for co-operatively knitting two-by-two ribbed tops, additional pairs of cylinder needles alined with said dial needles when the latter are in ribbing position, said dial needles being adapted to move out to open stitches held thereon and aline the same with said additional pairs of cylinder needles to transfer their stitches thereonto when the latter needles pass upwardly thru said stitches at the completion of said ribbed top; the improvement comprising automatic shogging means associated with at least one of said driving means for moving said cylinder and dial relatively to each other by an amount sufficient to cause each pair of said dial needles in one position to straddle one of the needles of each of said first-mentioned pairs of cylinder needles for makeup, and in another position to lie between adjacent pairs of said first-mentioned cylinder needles to knit a two-by-two ribbed top in co-operation therewith.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 and in which said automatic shogging means comprises a subcombination including a drive shaft in the mechanism for rotating said dial, said shaft being broken centrally thereof, a sleeve slidable over both portions of said shaft, camming means keying said sleeve to at least one of said shaft portions against relative rotation only, said camming means being adapted upon longitudinal movement of said sleeve over said shaft to rotate one portion thereof relatively to the other portion to efiect said shogging of the dial and cylinder relative to each other, and automatic means for longitudinally moving said sleeve in desired manner.

7. A circular hosiery-knitting machine comprising: synchronously driven cylinder and dial; said cylinder having a first set of needles adapted to have stitches thereon constantly thruout operation of the machine, and a second set of needles regularly interlaced with said first set of needles and adapted to co-operate with said first set of needles to plain-knit the body of a hose and to be idle during knitting of the top of said hose; said dial having spaced dial needles adapted to interlace with and co operate with said first set of cylinder needles to knit a ribbed top; said dial needles being adapted at transfer to hold the stitches carried thereon alined with said second set of cylinder needles whereby the latter may pass thru said stitches for automatic transfer thereof to said second set of cylinder needles at the completion of said ribbed top; and automatic means for shogging said dial and cylinder relative to each other to and from a first position in which each pair of adjacent dial needles will straddle one of said co-operating top-knitting cylinder needles to cause the latter to pull a lop of yarn about the former for providing an automatic make-up, and a. second position in which said each pair of dial needles will lie to one side of its said cooperating top-knitting cylinder needle for co-operation therewith in knitting said ribbed top, thereby producing a welt in which said stitches are crossed and drawn so as to create a tighter welt.

8. An automatic transfer knitting machine for the continuous knitting of hose, separated by a pull top between adjacent hose, said machine comprising synchronously driven cylinder and dial, said cylinder having first spaced pair of contiguous needles, adapted to have stitches thereon throughout operation of the machine, alternating with second spaced pairs of cylinder needles adapted to co-operate with said first pairs of needles to plain-knit the body of a hose and to be idle during knitting the top of said hose, said dial having spaced pairs of dial needles adapted to extend between and co-operate with said first pairs of cylinder needles to knit a two-bytwo ribbed top, said dial needles being adapted to have the stitches carried thereon automatically transferred to said second pairs of cylinder needles at the completion of said ribbed top and automatic means for shogging said dial and said cylinder relatively to each other to and from a first position in which each pair of dial needles will straddle one of the needles of each of said first pairs of cylinder needles whereby the first pairs of cylinder needles will pull loops of yarn around the dial needles and provide an automatic make-up of stitches thereon and a second position in which said pairs of dial needles will lie between said first pairs of cylinder needles for co-operation therewith in knitting said two-by-two ribbed top.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 805,612 Wildman Nov. 28, 1905 2,181,679 McAdarns Nov. 28, 1939 2,255,068 Lawson et a1. Sept. 9, 1941 2,622,421 Minton Dec. 23, 1952 2,696,095 Zieve Dec. 7, 1954 2,738,661 St. Pierre Mar. 20, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,735 Great Britain 1910 79,958 Germany Mar. 1, 1895 

